


Counting the Days

by mackenziemchale



Category: The Newsroom (US TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Set during S3, Smut, Smut in the last chapter, Wedding Night, will’s in jail
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:14:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28880793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mackenziemchale/pseuds/mackenziemchale
Summary: It broke her heart to accept that she and Will were spending their wedding night apart.M rating for the last chapter.
Relationships: Will McAvoy/MacKenzie McHale
Comments: 26
Kudos: 20





	1. Wedding Night

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so you may have noticed that this fic says 1/? and that is because this is going to have three parts in total.
> 
> It’s not necessarily a multi-chapter fic because they can all be read as separate one shots but they all connect because they’re in the same timeline.
> 
> Also quick thank you to my friend Rosie for giving me the idea for this first part. 
> 
> Enjoy ❤️

Mackenzie watches as Will is taken from her in handcuffs and whisked down the hallway toward the exit of the courthouse. The ache in her chest intensifies as he disappears from her view in only a matter of minutes. That was it, he was being taken to Manhattan Correctional Center while she was still standing there in her wedding dress. The feeling of their parting kiss still lingering on her lips. Although she was the one who insisted they get married before he was taken away, it still hurt to know she was spending their wedding night without him.

Charlie presses his hand to her back and his voice is warm and calming as he says, “why don’t you come and stay with Nancy and I tonight?”

She shifts toward him and looks up at him, “oh… Charlie I really don’t want to intrude on your night.”

“No intrusion, we’d love to have you,” he insists.

Mac hesitates to answer at first because she harbors a love for Charlie in the way that she did for her parents. He was like a second father to her and she didn’t want to come off as rude by denying his kindness. But, she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to be around anyone tonight. “It’s a kind offer… but I think I want to be alone tonight.”

Charlie nods, “alright, can we at least treat you to a nice home-cooked meal?”

She couldn’t really say no to that, if it weren’t for the offer she’d probably be eating takeout alone in their unfinished living room and drinking straight from a wine bottle. “Okay, sure. Thank you.”

Charlie pats her back gently then starts walking toward the exit of the courthouse. Mac stands for a moment and watches, almost feeling cemented in this spot for the rest of time. It was hard to get the image of Will being taken away to stop replaying in her mind, but she tries as she finally takes a step and follows after Charlie.

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Dinner with Charlie and Nancy helped Mackenzie temporarily forget that she’d be spending tonight and every night for an unknown amount of time by herself. They chatted and ate like it was any other night and the couple purposely tried not to bring up Will so not to rub any salt into her open wound. However, there were times he was mentioned and those moments served as reminders to her that this wasn’t some dream she’d wake up from any moment now. That the only time she’d be seeing her husband was during visitation hours.

Despite the mention here and there of Will, Mac manages to get through the dinner with Charlie and Nancy. It was actually good for her, it reminded her that her support system was better than it had been in years. They were like family to her and since her actual family members lived nowhere near, it helped tremendously to have her found family. 

Coming home from Charlie and Nancy’s was hard. She opened the door to a quiet unfinished apartment unsure of what to do with herself.

Six months ago Mackenzie and Will got engaged and they hadn’t spent a night apart since. Six months hadn’t been enough to make up for the six  _ years _ they’d lost, but they were on their way. Now that was halted again by yet another roadblock thrown in their path. 

Mac was slow with getting to their room, but eventually she made it and pulled herself over to her closet. She took her time as she peeled herself out of the clothing she’d worn to dinner and rather than walking over to her dresser to pull out her usual pajamas, Mac walks over to Will’s.

She opens the third drawer from the top which was filled with old t-shirts that he usually only wore to bed. Her eyes scan the organized pile (he’d always been one to organize everything he possibly could) and after a minute, she pulls out a shirt she knew he’d worn recently. It was a plain grey t-shirt, but she knew he’d been wearing it just a few nights ago meaning his scent was bound to still be lingering on it. 

And she was right, Mac slipped on the t-shirt and it was like she’d been enveloped into one of his tight bear hugs. The shirt hit her at the middle of her thighs and the smell of his cologne was filling her nostrils as she stood there, taking it all in for a moment. The scent and the way it felt like he was there hugging her comforted her. It sent a wave of calm through her and yet her chest still ached from how much she already missed him. 

It doesn’t take long for Mac to find herself looking for some sort of distraction. She wasn’t used to being alone anymore, which was strange considering how long they spent apart. Nonetheless, she’d gotten used to his presence and how they’d spend the couple hours they had together after work and before sleep. Some nights they’d watch a movie, others they’d talk, some nights they didn’t do anything at all, but they still had each other. 

As a way to try and distract herself, Mackenzie found herself in bed with a book and a glass of water. She considered alcohol at first, but decided against it. She was trying her best not to mope around about Will being gone and she didn’t think alcohol would help any with that. And she certainly didn’t want to numb herself, not now anyway.

While she’s reading, she actually finds herself becoming invested in the book which was good because she wasn’t sure if it would be enough to distract her. But it was such a good distraction that when her cell phone starts ringing next to her, she nearly tosses her book as she jumps from the sudden surprise. 

Grabbing a hold of her phone, Mac swallows hard while looking at the number, trying to slow her heart rate back down. She didn’t recognize the number, but she answers anyway, “hello?” 

“Mackenzie,” his voice was rough, but it wasn’t unrecognizable by any means.

She didn’t even have to ask to know it was Will, she could pick his voice out in a crowd of people. And hearing the rough but warm voice fill her ears sends a mix of emotions through her, “Billy…” she says softly in return. 

“I don’t have a whole lot of time, unfortunately. I just… wanted to call and let you know that I’m okay.”

Mac can’t hold back the tears she’d been fighting all evening any longer, she lets them prick her eyes as she hears him say he’s okay. She was a mixture of relief and sadness and it was confusing to experience, but she tried to manage it. “That’s… that’s good. I’m so happy to hear that you’re okay.”

“Are you?” 

The question takes her by surprise, for some reason she hadn’t been expecting him to ask if she was doing alright. Like it mattered, she wasn’t the one locked away in a cell. 

But, it was their wedding night. Mac had tried the entire evening to push that knowledge away and pretend it wasn’t because it was easier. It broke her heart to accept that she and Will were spending their wedding night apart. She never would’ve imagined that it would be this way. And she felt guilty for even considering being sad that he wasn’t there, she still felt guilty for the way she cried the night before knowing he’d be taken away. Mac was proud of him for protecting Neal and the source and who was she to cry when it wasn’t her sitting behind bars? Yet, it was hard to not let her emotions poke through the wall she’d try to put them behind. Because no matter how proud she was, it still upset her that Will was taken away just when she’d gotten him back. And even though it wasn’t her behind bars, it still was affecting her and maybe she had a right to feel this way.

“Mackenzie…” Will’s voice fills her ears again and she hadn’t even realized that she zoned out for a minute there.

“I miss you,” she answers.

“I miss you too… so much.”

Mac doesn’t realize tears are falling down her cheeks until one of them hits the page of the book she still had open in her hands. Reaching out with her thumb, she rubs her hand over the wet dot and listens as Will asks if she’d do a favor for him. “Anything, my love,” she answers.

“Don’t spend tonight by yourself. Call Sloan or someone, but don’t spend tonight alone okay? For me.” Will wasn’t stupid. He knew her better than anyone else and he knew that she wasn’t doing as well as she might be pretending. That she was only suppressing how she really felt and needed someone to lean on while they went through this.

Her immediate reaction is to protest and insist she didn’t need to have someone there. She’d been through hell in the Middle East, she’d dodge bullets being shot at her from either side of the war, she did reporting with her men from fucking caves, and the worst of it all: she’d been stabbed and nearly died. Mac had been through more than most people her age would ever experience in their entire life. She was tough and she believed she could deal with spending her wedding night without Will. 

They shared a slight back and forth and she was persistent that she was okay and there was no reason for her to make one of their friends go out of their way to stay with her. 

Deep down though, Mac was trying to keep herself together at the seams. She’d been through literal hell and nearly died along the way, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t fall apart. There were countless times that she had because of what she’d been through. Not only that, but there were countless times even after what she’d gone through where she still fell apart because she’d lost Will. 

Mac was tough, tougher than most, but she was still human. And unfortunately for her, humans aren’t indestructible.

“Okay… call Sloan or don’t. I just didn’t want you to be alone, you’ve spent too many nights by yourself,” Will says after a couple moments of silence.

She sighs, knowing his intentions were pure. In fact, it was just like him to be thinking about her and not himself, and she loved him for that. “Okay… I’m sorry for arguing, I just don’t want you to think I can’t handle this.”

“Mac, if I didn’t think you could handle this I would’ve given them the name of the source as soon as they asked me. I know you can handle this, just don’t isolate yourself and make yourself go through it alone. We have an entire family who’d step in front of a train if you asked them and I don’t want you to forget that.”

She can’t help but smile at the first comment and how well he knew her. She then lets out another breath and replies, “okay, I won’t go through this alone… I promise.”

“Good,” there’s a pause before Will continues, “I have to hang up now, I’ll see you at the first visitation okay?”

“Okay.”

“And Mackenzie?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

Another smile wipes across her face, “I love you more.”

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After hanging up with Will, Mac glances over at the clock and sees that it was only 8:30pm. Everyone was at the bullpen, hard at work and the only reason Mac wasn’t there with them was because she’d been practically forbidden. Well, she was pulled to dinner with Charlie and Nancy and then when she tried to tell them she was going to head to work after, they insisted she didn’t. Charlie was taking the night off and he told her it was best to do the same because she just watched her husband get taken away to prison. It was best to give herself one night off.

At the time, Mac had wanted to go to work and immediately bury herself in it so it prompted her to push back with Charlie and insist she’d be fine. He quickly went from fatherly mode to boss mode and half-joked that he’d fire her if she didn’t do as he asked. So, she finally caved and said she wouldn’t go in and didn’t.

Mac passes the next half hour by continuing her book, which made the time go by quicker than she would’ve thought. When she knows Sloan is out of the studio and able to answer her phone, Mac gives her a call. She wasn’t sure if Sloan would want to come over so last minute, but it was worth a shot.

Turns out the call had been worth it after all because within twenty minutes of Mac hanging up, Sloan was standing outside of her apartment door.

She gives a smile to Mac when the door opens and holds up a bag from a local convenience store, “I brought snacks.”

Mac just smiles in return and greets Sloan with a hug, quietly thanking her from coming on such short notice before letting her in. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> As always feel free to leave a kudos or a comment if you feel so inclined.
> 
> See you guys soon with the next part 💛


	2. 48 Days Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m late,” Mac blurts out as she stares at the calendar on her phone.
> 
> “What?” Sloan asks and sets down the bottled water she’d been sipping from.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a reminder that this isn’t a continuation per se of the last chapter but it is connected because it’s part of the same timeline. 
> 
> Enjoy ❤️

Mac was in a mood. She seemed to be going through some sort of bout of mood swings the past week. It got so intense at some points that the senior staff would have to play rock paper scissors to see who was going to be the one to go into her office and talk to her about a certain story. Most of the senior staff figured it had to do with Will, that he’d been locked up for 48 days.

Mackenzie herself figured it was her period. She hadn’t checked to see when her last one was but she figured with the mood swings that it had to be right around the corner. What else would it be? Not to mention she’d been twice as exhausted and the exhaustion seemed to be at the level it was every time her period came around. Although this time she was experiencing some nausea which wasn’t fun, but she just chalked it up to her period being close. 

That was until—

“I’m late,” Mac blurts out as she stares at the calendar on her phone.

“What?” Sloan asks and sets down the bottled water she’d been sipping from.

Mackenzie and Sloan were sitting outside of a cafe together, enjoying the rare opportunity they had together to have lunch. It wasn’t long though, only twenty minutes but both were happy with that rather than nothing.

They’d grown closer over the last 48 days. They were good friends before, Sloan had been her maid of honor at their impromptu wedding, but they’d become even closer friends during this particularly difficult time in Mac’s life. Sloan had been one of the few people who managed to keep Mac sane while Will was gone and she only saw him a couple times a week. 

“I’m looking at my calendar and I’m realizing I haven’t had a fucking period in over a month. I mean almost two months at this point.”

“Over a month? How the hell did you not realize? It’s sort of hard to miss blood coming out of your body.”

Mac shrugs, “I… I don’t know, with everything happening lately I just got so caught up I didn’t even think about it. And when it didn’t come I just didn’t even realize…”

There’s a moment of silence where both of their brains are trying to deduce what was going on as if it wasn’t obvious. Fortunately for Sloan, she gets there before Mac, “when was the last time you had sex?”

“The night before he went to jail, why?” Mac hadn’t quite made it there yet. 

Sloan stares at Mac and raises her brows, knowing that it was going to click any second now. 

And when it does she nearly feels like the wind had been knocked out of her, “oh my god.”

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⠀  
The bad thing about having the realization that she might be pregnant was that Mac had zero time to run to the nearest drug store and buy a pregnancy test. As soon as it clicked in her mind while at lunch with Sloan, they were just wrapping up and needed to get back to the newsroom. 

She wasn’t sure she could block out time to run to the nearest drugstore to get a few tests with how busy she was. The lunch with Sloan seemed to be all the free time she was going to have today. 

And so she spent the next hour trying to push away the distraction and just push through work and pick a test or three up on the way home. 

However, her ability to push it away the entirety of the day wasn’t going so well. At the next rundown meeting she was more distracted than ever and the staff could tell. 

“So we’ll have to cut that from the rundown,” Mac says as she stands at the head of the table and looks down at her binder.

“You just said we weren’t cutting it,” Jim points out, confused.

She quickly looks up at the staff and sees some exchanging confused looks and some turning toward her with looks of concern. Shaking her head as the realization of the past five minutes hits her she replies, “right right, we won’t be cutting it.”

Mac looks over the notes in her binder and then back at the staff, “okay if there’s nothing else, then that’s it for now and we’ll reconvene at the four o’clock rundown.”

She goes for the door right after saying that and lets out a sigh as she steps out of it, knowing she needed to get herself together or else tonight’s show was bound to be a mess. She needed to just completely forget the idea that she could be pregnant and how that made her feel until after the show.

Jim catches her on the way out before she runs off to her office, “hey Mac, is everything alright?”

That was a loaded question, because everything had been off without Will and with Pruitt now in charge instead of Reese. Now with this possibility of pregnancy being thrown in her lap, she wasn’t at all sure that everything was alright. 

And Jim could tell Mac was acting different today and the entirety of the week. 

“Actually Jim, could you do me a favor?” She knew she didn’t really have the time but if she didn’t stop letting her thoughts be consumed every second by the fact that she might be pregnant, then she wasn’t going to make it through the night. 

“Anything.”

“Can you run things around here for about fifteen minutes? I have an errand that I’d really like to take care of before the show.”

Jim furrows his brows at first, Mac wasn’t usually one to run off to run an errand. Usually when he saw her she was hard at work and too busy to take a moment to talk. Though there had been times where he spotted Will going off to hair and makeup closely followed by Mac five minutes later but he didn’t even want to think about what they were up to. It certainly wasn’t work. “Yeah, sure, you’ll be back in fifteen?”

“Fifteen to twenty minutes, if I’m gone any longer give me a call but I should be back by then.”

“Okay,” he nods.

Mac lets out a sigh of relief, “thank you. Remind me to repay you by taking you out or something later.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll see you in a few.”

She nods, “see you in a few.”

Mac then quickly turns on one heel and begins making a b-line toward the elevators. At this point she was desperate to know and hopefully she’d have an answer in the next ten or so minutes.

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⠀  
It was times like these that Mac was thankful she was usually unrecognizable to the public. There were times where people would recognize her if they were fans of Will’s and knew they were together, but most times Mac could go out and not worry about being spotted by some stranger. Or worse followed by any paparazzi or tabloid, but they didn’t care about her.

So when she arrived at the closest drugstore to the AWM building, she was able to get three pregnancy tests and get out of there with ease. It was times like these she was also glad they lived in a city and she didn’t have to worry about running into any friends or acquaintances. 

When she gets back to the AWM building, she finds the first bathroom in the lobby and speeds her way over to it. 

Mac sighs as she sits on the toilet and waits for all three pregnancy tests to take the 2-3 they needed to process the results. All she could think about the entire time was Will. She badly wished he was here experiencing this with her. Instead of being in a random bathroom in the lobby of the AWM building though, they’d be experiencing this in the bathroom in their apartment. 

She still hadn’t even begun to process how all of this was making her feel. She was heartbroken that Will wasn’t here, because she knew how badly he would want to be if he knew about any of this. Her heart was also thumping hard against her chest and her hands were sweating at the possibility of being pregnant. They hadn’t been planning on kids just yet and Mac wasn’t even sure she’d be a good mom. At the same time as those emotions, she also couldn’t help but feel some joy over this. If she was pregnant then that meant she and Will were going to be raising a kid together. They were going to have a new addition to their family, one that they created together.

When the time finally comes for the first test to be done processing the results, Mac’s hand shakes as she reaches out for it and grabs onto one end. She closes her eyes for a moment before letting out a sigh and finally opening them to find one line on the test. Negative.

Her heart sinks as she sees this result because even though she was a mix of emotions, she couldn’t stop herself from being sad over it reading negative. Mac was almost positive she was pregnant, she wasn’t sure what it was but it was like she could feel that she was pregnant. 

But, there were still two more tests so maybe this one had been a false negative.

And when the time comes for the other two, they were both positive. One of the tests had two distinct red lines, absolutely affirming that she was pregnant. The third and final one though had one distinct red line and one was slightly faded. That confused her, but she still read it as pregnant. 

The sadness of Will not being there to experience it with her or at least for her to go tell immediately hits her again. Mac was seriously starting to absolutely hate being apart from him. And if she thought she missed him on the first night (which granted was full of emotion because it was their wedding night), that ache she felt without him then was nothing compared to 48 days. It wasn’t like she hadn’t experienced being apart from him before, they didn’t see each other for three years, but even then she took solace in knowing she could always see him on her tv. She couldn’t even do that now, all she had were the visitations and occasional phone calls. She was already upset that they were missing out on being married and now this pregnancy was piled right on top of it. Who knew how much of this he was going to miss?

Mac was starting to regret deciding to take the tests now because it was all she was going to think about for the rest of the night. Though she took solace in knowing that at least she wouldn’t be as distracted as she would’ve been had she not taken them.

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⠀  
Mac sits patiently at the table and fidgets with her ring under the table as she waits for the door to open. When the sound of the door being pushed open fills her ears, her head shoots up and she’s out of her chair immediately. The smile on her face is wide as Will walks in and meets her halfway in a warm, tight hug. 

It was the next day after finding out that she was pregnant and she managed to find some time to see Will. She didn’t know if she was going to tell him anything about it because she had a blood test next week to confirm that she was in fact pregnant, but she was considering it. She wanted him to know, but she didn’t want to tell him she was pregnant only for the blood test to come back negative. That was what was keeping her from saying anything. 

As they sit down across from each other at the table, Will smiles, “I’m really happy you’re here.” He himself was starting to go stir crazy and seeing her face brought him out of that just a little. It reminded him what he had waiting for him outside of the tiny cell he spent every waking moment in.

“Me too,” she says softly and reaches out for his hands without thinking because it was pure instinct. 

When her hands close over his, Will looks over at the guard who was watching them during the visitation and he only nods, giving the okay for them to hold hands. They were allowed some physical contact, like a hug as a greeting but other things were limited. They could kiss but only a quick peck and other than that, they were mostly limited to holding hands. That was more than okay with both of them, the limited touch was better than none at all.

The two talk for a little while, Mac explains to him everything going on at work and how hectic things had gotten with Pruitt running things on the 44th. She explained how stressed and exhausted everyone was, and it seemed to be taking the biggest toll on Charlie. Every time she saw him he seemed to look worse than the previous time and it worried her. 

Will agreed, mentioning that he saw Charlie earlier in the week and he could tell the older man seemed worn down. Reese and Leona always exhausted him, but this was different. Will asked that she look after him and make sure he was doing alright and Mac assured she was, that she wasn’t the only one.

As their conversation shifts, Mac nearly lets it slip about yesterday’s events, how she was 99.5% sure that she was pregnant. “Yesterday was a lot, I was at lunch with Sloan and we were chatting and then I realized-” she cuts herself off as she realizes she was about to let that information slip and she wasn’t quite ready to tell him yet.

He furrows his brows when she stops and looks past him. He could see it in her eyes that she was scanning her brain for a way to change the subject or come up with something else. “What? You realized what?”

Mac shakes her head, “nothing… nothing. It was nothing, just that I realized it’ll be two months that you’ve been gone in 13 days.” It was a lie, but it was the best one she could come up with on the spot. 

He nods, knowing better than to pry right now unless he had good reason and whatever it was, hopefully she would tell him when she was ready. “Who knows, maybe I’ll get out of here before then. And I was thinking when I get out of here, you and I are going on a month-long vacation.”

Mac smiles at that, squeezing his hands, “yeah? Where are we going?”

“Anywhere you want.”

“Mmm… I’ve heard Bora Bora is gorgeous… or maybe we could go to Greece or maybe New Zealand. Anywhere far away from here.”

“Okay, any of those places is fine with me as long as I’m with you,” he says with another smile coming to his face. 

It was fun to entertain the idea of taking a month-long vacation to a country halfway around the world, but both knew that no matter how desperate they were to get away, it probably wouldn’t happen for quite some time. And a whole month was far too long with their careers. Even a week seemed too long. 

Mac had another smile on her face as he said that, feeling the warmth in her chest spread all throughout her body. God she missed this. Him.

Will then turns his head over to the guard when the man clears his throat and knows that it was time for him to go. And though they’d done this several times before, it still hurt just as much as the first time. He looks back at her, his smile faded away and a neutral look trying to cover his sadness appears on his face. It was hard to hide the sadness in his eyes though. “I have to go.”

A sigh comes from her, but she nods, “okay. I’ll come and visit as soon as I can next week, I promise.”

“I know you will, take care of yourself okay? And keep an eye on Charlie for me,” he insists, squeezing her hands one last time. 

“I will.”

Will nods and gives her a short and sweet peck on the lips before he gets up, slowly letting go of her hands and follows the guard over toward the door.

Mac lets out another sigh as she watches him go. It was hard to watch him go every time, but if there was one thing she was assured of during this visit, it was that she was most definitely ready to have a kid with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured that Mac was having symptoms of pregnancy while Will was gone or else I don’t think she would’ve gotten the blood test that’s mentioned in 3x06 so I thought why not write it?Add that to the list of things I wish we could’ve seen in the show.
> 
> Also I tried to get the timeline as right as I could. I figured she found out she was pregnant just before he was released and got the blood test maybe a day or so after his release thus resulting in her finding out the results a few days later at Charlie’s funeral. I couldn’t exactly pin down when Charlie’s funeral was because I don’t believe it’s said but I know it’s during the week because they went right back to work after. Lol anyway it’s probably not too important to you guys but just thought I’d explain my process.
> 
> As always feel free to leave any comment below or just a kudos. The final part will be up soon ❤️


	3. Here’s to the Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now it was two weeks since Charlie’s funeral and both of them were still dealing with the fact that he was gone, but they were doing much better than they were the first night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The rating for this story has gone up due to this chapter.
> 
> Enjoy ❤️

52 days. 1,248 hours. That’s how long Will was held in jail for never giving up the name of the source. That’s how long he and Mac were kept apart from each other. And, it’s how long the two of them had been married for and still hadn’t celebrated.

Mac felt as if the world’s heaviest weight had been lifted off her shoulders when she found out that Will would finally be coming home to her on June 24th. She just had to get through the rest of that day and they’d finally be reunited. 

But then a massive blow to both of them and the entire News Night staff was thrown at them. Charlie Skinner, a man who both Will and Mac saw as a father figure, died of a heart attack before Will was let out of the Manhattan Correctional Center. Having to break that news to him was one of the hardest things Mac had ever done. She’d made a lot of difficult decisions throughout her life, but this made the top five list, maybe even top three. She knew better than anyone just how much Charlie meant to Will so watching as his demeanor went from over the moon from reuniting with her outside of the correctional center to anguished was awful. 

He didn’t speak much the entire way back to their apartment, but he held her hand and insisted he was alright. 

They comforted each other (more her comforting him than anything) through it all and after the funeral they began to start to move on. That started with Will helping Mac move into Charlie’s office. Cleaning out his office had been difficult for both of them but it had also been therapeutic. Plus, Mac kept some of his things as a way to remember him. After that they both began feeling like their broken hearts were mending. 

Now it was two weeks since Charlie’s funeral and both of them were still dealing with the fact that he was gone, but they were doing much better than they were the first night. They were also finally getting around to celebrating that they’d been married for two months now and that Mac was two months pregnant. 

They both had talked about properly celebrating somehow, maybe going out for dinner at a five star restaurant or something of that nature. Unfortunately, the chance hadn’t come yet. Things at work had picked up again and with Mac’s new position, she never had the time or the energy (which partly was due to her pregnancy) to even consider going out to celebrate. 

So today, while Will was out spending some time with Don, Mac decided to take it upon herself to set up a little celebration in their apartment. It wasn’t just a celebration either, it was also a way for them to make up for missing their wedding night.

Mac hums quietly as she lights a candle and sets it down near the setup she’d made. She was in their living room, which still wasn’t completely finished, next to a large blanket that she had spread out across the floor along with a few pillows scattered on it for them to sit on. Also on the blanket, Mac had just set down a tray that had chocolate covered strawberries, whipped cream, champagne for Will, and mocktail for her.

Standing up once her setup is complete, a smile comes across her face. This was honestly so much better and much easier than taking the time to go out and get all dressed up for a five star restaurant. Though that wasn’t to say she wasn’t dressed up to an extent, she was in her red satin nightie that hit her at her upper to mid thigh. That was paired with her black silk robe and nothing else. 

She knew it wouldn’t be much longer until Will was home and she couldn’t wait to surprise him with her little setup.

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When Will opens the door to their apartment about fifteen minutes later, he furrows his brows as he steps in and notices instantly how dark it was. “Mac?” he calls out. He automatically assumes maybe she was tucked away in their bedroom reading a book. 

Will flicks up the light switch near the door then shrugs out of his coat while he waits for Mackenzie to come and greet him. When he hears her light footsteps approaching, a small smile comes to his lips and he turns around. His brows raise again as Mac comes into view, not having expected to see her in the red nightie and black robe, “well hello to you honey.” It was difficult for him to not let his eyes roam her body and remember how that nightie hugged every curve of hers.

Mac noticed his eyes wandering as soon as he noticed what she was wearing and she can’t help but take pride in it. He always made her feel confident about her body, reminding her verbally and physically just how beautiful he thought she was. A smile comes to her lips too, “hi.”

His eyes meet hers again, “you’re all dressed up, got a hot date?”

She bites down on her bottom lip then shrugs, “maybe.”

Will finally takes a step forward, regretting not doing it sooner as he brings her closer to him by sliding an arm around the waist. His arm was between the robe and the nightie, the soft satin material brushing against his arm being the only thing separating the skin to skin contact he was beginning to desire. “Wanna tell me what’s up your sleeve?”

“Why would I tell you when I could just show you?” Mac pulls herself out of his grasp and instead grabs his hand to begin leading the way toward the setup she made that was waiting for them in the living room. 

As they reach the setup another smile comes to Will’s face, “what’s all this?” he asks in a soft tone, obvious that he was touched.

“Well… consider it a combination celebration of a number of things. A celebration that after 52 long days you’ve been home for two weeks now. It’s also a celebration that we’re finally married, that I’m pregnant, and that I got a promotion. We’ve been talking about celebrating all of this and making up for the time we’ve lost, but with how busy things have been lately we haven’t got the chance. So I figured why not do it at home?” She explains as she looks up at him, “besides, who needs a five star restaurant when we can sit in our unfinished apartment and feed each other chocolate covered strawberries while we drink? Non-alcoholic for me of course.”

Will’s chest filled with warmth as he listened to her explain all of this. He’d been meaning to try and put something together, like use his status of being known in the city to get them a reservation somewhere nice, but he hadn’t quite gotten to it yet. “You…” he says and bends down to kiss her on the lips, “are the best wife a man could ever ask for,” he finishes in between another soft kiss. 

Mac can’t hold back a laugh as they part, “you might regret saying that later when I wake you up from having morning sickness and make you hold back my hair while I vomit.” And she was only half kidding with that, morning sickness had already been a pain so far. 

“Well I have to admit, it’s not my favorite part of the day, but I did vow to love you in sickness and in health so I guess that’s just me following through with that.”

She chuckles again and takes hold of his hand, “let’s enjoy the little set up I made before the chocolate on the strawberries melt.” Mac pulls him down with her as she goes to sit on one side of the set up, making sure that he was right next to her.

Mac raises her glass filled with the champagne mocktail after filling both of their glasses, “to you being home for two weeks, to me being pregnant, to my promotion, and to making up for all the time we’ve lost.”

Will nods and clicks his glass against hers, “to all of that.”

They both sip on their drinks at the same time and Will lets out a breath and watches as Mac goes for one of the strawberries. “You know you don’t have to focus on what we’ve lost,” he points out.

She pulls a strawberry out of the bowl and looks back up at him, “what do you mean?”

“I mean,” he scoots closer, as if they weren’t practically on top of each other already, “yeah, we lost… a little over six years and now add in the first 52 days of marriage… it’s a lot. And yeah I sometimes feel ancient with the way my knees hurt all the time, but we still have so much time ahead of us.”

Mac thinks for a moment and shrugs, “I guess I didn’t really think of it like that.”

“Think of it like,” Will then steals the strawberry from her fingertips, “instead of here’s to making up for what we lost… here’s to our future together.” He brings the strawberry to her lips and holds back a smile as he sees her own before she takes a bite.

Mac leans forward and gives a soft kiss to his lips after swallowing the bite of the strawberry. “Okay, then,” she says quietly and takes the strawberry back, but this time places it on the tray again. When she turns back to him, she grabs his hand and places it on her still flat stomach, “here’s to our future.”

Will smiles, something that both of them couldn’t seem to stop doing tonight. He didn’t have any words to describe how happy he was, in fact words simply weren’t enough. He was immeasurably in love with her, so thrilled to be spending the rest of his life with her and no word ever created could describe that. 

His hand moves from her stomach, but not to pull away. He moves it to her cheek and cups it gently, only letting a moment pass before bringing her back into another kiss. This one was much longer than their previous quick but loving ones. It became intense quickly, pushing past the closed mouth kissing right into the open mouth terrority with her gently nipping on his bottom lip.

Will was quick to move one hand to one of her thighs and move it up between her legs while the other pushed the robe she was wearing off. And if he wasn’t one to at least try to take things slow depending on the circumstances, he’d be quite literally ripping the nightie off of her, but he didn’t want to seem too eager. 

Their lips briefly part for a moment before he goes further, “you okay with this?”

Mac nods, “yeah, are you?”

He nods in return, “yeah.”

Their lips come back together and he learns he wasn’t the only one who was eager, Mac’s hands had already gone for the buckle of his pants, quickly undoing it before tossing it aside. And she was just about to reach for the button of his pants when she felt Will’s hand, which had been traveling up her body the entire time, land on one of her breasts under the nightie. He lightly teases her nipple between two fingers but it was enough to make her moan and pull her lips away from his. 

Will continues the teasing and presses kisses to her cheek as he moves down to her jaw and lines it with open mouthed kisses. Both of those combined cause her to moan more and louder and makes her move her hand away from where it had been on his pants as she becomes wrapped up in this. 

“I need to get you out of this damn thing,” he mutters as his lips and hands momentarily move from where they’d been so he can pull off the only article of clothing left on her. 

The nightie is gone in one swift motion and Mac grabs the back of Will’s head, pulling his lips back to hers, beginning to pull him down onto the blanket below them. She then spreads her legs so that he can position himself between them, which he does but not before ridding himself of the pants he was wearing.

When they’re both finally naked, Will moves his lips away from her own again and keeps them away as he kisses down her jaw and then onto her neck. His hands in the meantime took the opportunity to explore and caress every part of her. One hand slides down her smooth skin all the way between her legs and he hums as he slides two fingers through her wet folds. 

He takes pride in listening to her moan as he keeps pressing open mouthed kisses down her body, loving knowing that he’s able to pleasure her. Will’s lips come to a stop when he finally reaches her breasts and moves over to one first, quickly swiping over her nipple with his tongue causing more moans. 

They stay like that for a little while, his fingers moving in a circular motion between her legs while he alternates back and forth between breasts. Things shift though as he takes his hand away, causing her to groan in displeasure. 

“Damn it. Just as I’m really starting to get somewhere, you take it away,” she complains, only causing him to chuckle.

Mac couldn’t help it, she was overly eager and desperate, they’d had sex once since he returned and before that it had been nearly two months. It wasn’t like they had sex every night before he was taken away but it was certainly more often than once a month. Being deprived of that had made her needy and Will could tell. He himself was needy too.

“Don’t worry my love, I’m not going to leave you hanging,” he assures.

Will lives up to what he says, it wasn’t long until he was back to sending pleasure through her because moments after pulling his fingers away does he replace them with his mouth. And she moans louder that time, one of her hands instinctively threading them through his hair. 

“God Billy…” She moans and lightly tugs at his hair as her eyes fall closed and she tilts her head back slightly, focusing on each and every movement he makes with his tongue. 

It was just after she started moaning his name did he add his fingers back into the mix and then she really let go of holding back on her moans. He almost felt sorry for their neighbors, but then again he didn’t because hearing her moan his name which eventually turned into incoherent nonsense as he brought her to an orgasm was like music to his ears.

When Mac finally managed to come down from her high, Will made his way back up to her but not without pressing kisses along her body on the way. And when they came face to face again, Mac was still panting.

“Hi,” he smiles.

“Hi…” she replies back with a quick smile as she continues slowing her breath down.

“You alright?” He grazes a few fingers along her side as he asks that.

“Yeah, I’m great, just give me a second.”

Will does as she asks and goes back to peppering kisses along her body, making his way down to the scar that marked her abdomen. He traces his fingers over it and follows that with a few kisses. But he wasn’t there long because after those few kisses, Mac was pulling him back up to her. 

She smiles again, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” his smile matches hers and they meet each other in the middle for another kiss that quickly turns to another passionate, open mouthed kiss. 

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Will lays pressed up against her back as they lay together, his fingers tracing up and down along her shoulder. It was a good hour later and at least ten of those minutes had been spent laying there pressed up against each other, not saying a word. They were still doing that as neither of them were quite ready to get up.

“I hope you weren’t too lonely while I was gone,” he says quietly and gives her a kiss on the shoulder as his fingers continue their tracing. 

“It wasn’t easy… but I managed. Plus, Sloan is a good kisser so it wasn’t half bad,” Mac jokes.

Will laughs, “yeah?”

Mac shifts so that they could face each other again, “mhm, but not as good as you. Almost though,” she teases.

He lets out a smaller chuckle that time and nods, “well I’m glad she kept you company then.”

She smiles, “really, I was able to lean on her and everyone. I did bury myself in work, but I did spend more time with Charlie and Sloan.” That was all the detail she wanted to give, because she didn’t want to make him feel anymore guilty than he already did for not being with her for two months. Telling him that she struggled wouldn’t do any good, at least that’s what she believed.

“That’s good, I’m glad they were able to be there for you.”

“I’m glad that you’re home,” Mac replies softly.

Will nods, “I am too.”

She then leans forward and presses a kiss to his forehead before pulling away and begins to pull herself off the ground. Before completely standing though, she offers her hand, “care to join me in the shower?”

“I would love to,” he smiles.

Mac helps him up and once they’re both standing, she puts an arm around him as they start walking toward their bedroom. 

“Just promise me one thing,” Will requests.

“What’s that?”

“Please don’t submit me to your tortuous water temperature.” He was only half kidding because Mac loved her hot showers.

“It is not torturous,” she insists.

“One of these days you’re going to burn me, I swear.”

Mac laughs that time and moves her hand from his waist to lightly shove him, “I am  _ not  _ going to burn you, you baby.”

“Hey, I am not a baby,” he protests as he steps into their bedroom first.

“Oh you’re right, sorry  _ grandpa _ .”

Will stops in his tracks as they’re walking toward the bedroom, “what did you call me?”

Mac was wide eyed as she looked at him, knowing any second now he was going to pay her back for calling him a grandpa but that he was only being playful and not at all upset. “I…” she steps toward the direction of their bathroom, biting back a smile, “nothing.” She then squeals and starts to make a b-line for their shower.

“Hey get back here!” he calls out and chases her toward the bathroom, managing to grab her before she can reach the shower.

“Noo!” Mac whines as he picks her up and carefully puts her over his shoulder. “Let me down!” She insists and lightly hits his back with her fists.

“Only if you let me control the shower temperature tonight,” Will answers, holding on to her as tight as he can so that she wouldn’t fall.

“Okay… Okay… fine.” The only reason that she was quick to give in was because she could already feel the blood rushing to her head as he held her like this.

“Good answer,” he carefully brings her down and helps her stand back up. “You alright?”

Mac nods and flashes a small smile, “yeah, but I think that’s enough fooling around for me.”

“You and me both honey,” his knees were in slight pain from chasing her but he wasn’t going to complain. Instead, he takes her hand and walks over to the shower with her, helping her into it before turning it on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this chapter means a close to this little collection of one shots. Honestly I just wanted to tell a little more about how I think that time would’ve gone in particular for Mac. Plus adding in this chapter of how they would’ve celebrated all the things they hadn’t had a chance to yet.
> 
> Thank you for all the love on this one and the comments, it always means a lot. And feel free to leave any thoughts you have on this last part or leave a kudos if you haven’t yet. 
> 
> Until next time ❤️


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